5 comments about Creative After Effects 5.0, Animation, visual effects and motion graphics production for TV and video.

1. When i first got the AE,i just opened them,felt totally stupid and after 1 minute i closed them and i swore never to open them again ( sounds familiar to you? )...until i bought Angie's book on AE.It's basically an excellent book,you start off with simple things and you even learn the intimidating stuff like scripting, expressions,parenting and 3D with total ease (i never even dare to dream about scripting...).The book is far away from those dull&boring "computer" books with just plain theory and no practice.So if you wanna learn AE,look no further,just go and get this book!



2. I've worked for a number of years as an Avid editor and have used After Effects for a variety of things, but have usually had a staff Graphics person to handle the heavy lifting. As a result, I found a had numerous holes in my knowledge base. I decided to go back to the basics and I have found Angie's book to be a great tool for filling in the blanks. It serves as a wonderful foundation for the newbie and also does a great job of filling in the gaps for someone like me. The tutorials are clear, concise and very enjoyable. Angie brings a great bit of fun to the process (including some delightful footage of her dancing). Also, Angie draws on other subject matter experts in certain areas, to ensure effective communication of the topic (esp. the chapter covering expressions, which can be a daunting aspect of AE and often goes untouched by most users). Great tutorials, fun projects and thorough explanations. Well worth the purchase price.



3. This book doesn't cover very much.. The majority of this book - cover's material that anyone who has toyed around with the program knows..
   get after effects bible



4. This is what I like about the Angie Taylor book:
   1. It is in color - Rating 1 out of 1. Publishers take note: I just won't buy a book that is b&w with the color pics on the CD.
   2. It has a CD (but could look to a DVD with update and more samples etc. See the DVD that ships with the book Studio Secrets - Premiere and After Effects) - Rating 1 of possible 3. Publishers take note - I won't buy a book without a CD and soon without a DVD.
   3. Content covers the basics and some of the new features - Rating 2.5 of 5 if you are an experienced user; 4.5 out of 5 if you are a new user
   4. She has a great website where she have put out new tutorials to keep up with new features like integrating Cinema4d with AE and lip sync - This saves you money - you don't have to buy a whole new book to take advange of each new AE realease. Rating 3 out of possible 3



5. This book is a great jump start to new ideas. Taylor takes you through several projects and offers a lot of insight along the way. I was turned on to this book after seing her present live. The book is filled with character and a joy to read. Every chapter contains great ideas and techniques that you just won't find elsewhere.

5 comments about Living Life inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation.

1. I love reading stories from animations golden age and this book is especially charming.
   Most people don't know it, but the ink and paint departments in all the major and minor studios were the real unsung heroes of the cartoon business-many ladies being accomplished artists in their own right and having the ability to take well drawn line drawings and just adding the right touch to each cel that the scenes would really shine. Water effects being one of the areas of animation that without great inkers and painters could tend to look "hokey".
   I give this book 5 stars, but I wish it had more pictures!!



2. When Chuck Jones received his special Academy Award in the mid-1990s, he wondered aloud from the stage where all the "laughing faces of Termite Terrace" had gone. They're right here in Martha Goldman Sigall's wonderful book. Martha was a central participant in the Golden Age of the animated short: she inked and painted on timeless, classic films directed by Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Bob McKimson, Frank Tashlin, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, and others, and almost certainly contributed to more animated films than all of them combined, probably without receiving a single screen credit in that era. But she sketches the men and women who sketched Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry masterfully in this extremely well-written book, which, like Martha herself, is very warm, funny, and people-oriented. Her personal portraits of artists like Treg Brown, Virgil Ross, Ben Washam, and many others are a crucial contribution to animation history as well as a fun and funny reading experience.
   
   This is the best book on the Schlesinger studio (birthplace of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and many others), and provides perhaps a thousand important details about that historic cartoon studio and MGM's that aren't found elsewhere. Martha sketches the 1941 strike, the Red Scare, wartime Hollywood, and other events from the animation community's perspective, and also sheds light on the historic industry locations such as 861 Seward, where six different studios sought shelter through the years; the neat and clean (but long gone) MGM building in Culver City, and the shabby Van Ness home of Leon Schlesinger and his "kids".
   
   In what may be the last major eyewitness account of the classic era of animation, Martha raises the spirit of those long-gone laughing faces, and humanizes the creation of the great cartoons and timeless characters that will last forever. The joy she obviously felt in her career infuses the book and the reader.
   
   Martha and her husband Sol, who, happily, is also heard from here, have always been like beloved grandparents to animators in Southern California (one of which this author was for a few years), but in 1996 they kindly donated themselves to the Warner Brothers Museum and are now officially public treasures. If you're not in the area, you can claim your share of them right here in this wonderful book. They should designate a rating higher than five stars for it.



3. I know the son of the writer and was eager to read her book. I have done computer animation and presently am in involved in video production. I found this personal history of the early days of animation to be fun, informative, and came away feeling I had a better knowledge of the people involved in this wonderful form of visual art!
   
   If you love animation, history of early animation days...this book is a wonderful read!



4. If you've read any other animation history books, you've gotten a basic idea of how things were during "Golden Age" of the 30's and 40's. But not only is Living Life Inside The Lines one of the few books written someone who actually worked in animation during that period, it's the only book I've seen written by an ink & paint artist, which gives it a point of view of the animation world that other books never mention.
   
   Sigall also tells stories of people like Irv Spence and Phil Monroe who were a big part of animation history, but have never gotten much mention in books. And having worked at numerous studios and ink & paint houses, she has very broad perspective on how the animation industry has changed from the 30's thorough to the 80's. Plus her pleasant demeanor makes for a nice, easy-going read.
   
   If you're interested in animation, this book is a perfect supplement to your library.



5. This is such a treasure! It shows life inside Termite Terrace and preserves the history like a textbook. The author shares stories that aren't covered in other books and talks about the people who weren't in the spotlight of the Golden Era. I was amazed to find someone who had lived through it and been there had written this. Any students of Looney Tunes, animation, or cartoon history should read this book.

1 comments about Programming in Mathematica (3rd Edition).

1. I read 2nd edition of the book. "Programming in Mathematica" (PIM) is certainly a classic work (in programming style) for writing Mathematica packages. I also think it as a perfect example of literate programming in Mathematica, if you are trying literate programming in Mathematica.
   
   The literate programming style encourages writing explanation explicitly with the computer code so that both get pretty-printed and become human friendly. PIM is exactly such a perfect example. Nearly each Mathematica code piece in the book was clearly and elegantly explained.
   
   I noticed that Silvio Levy commented at the back of 3rd Edition of PIM. Silvio Levy is one of the creators of CWEB, a literate programming tool for C language. Wondering if this book also satisfies his taste of literate programming.

3 comments about The Imagination Challenge: Strategic Foresight and Innovation in the Global Economy (VOICES) (VOICES).

1. I expected to find tools and techniques to come up with novel ideas. Tools to get people say what they need and then come up with new solutions.
   
   This book does not offer this kind of information. Instead it tells you at length about past innovations and gives you no clue as to how people came up with them. Apart maybe that you should ask your self nonsense questions and see if you can come up with an answer that makes sense: what if tooth brushes could see? or what if Barbie dolls had a wireless access point installed? I do not believe in nonsense.
   
   If you don't know already that in order to come up with new ideas you have to let go of what you know and ask yourself new questions and that you have to recognize the problem before finding a solution, than this book is for you.



2. I have just read a review of this book stating that the reader was disappointed not to find a guide on how to develop new products. My view of this book differs in that I believe the book is quite successful in challenging people to use their imaginations and provides insightful examples of what doing so can achieve. If you are looking for a 'design by numbers' book this isn't it. The Imagination Challenge explores how we interpret situations, emerging signals, latent needs, behavior, play and opportunities and use are minds to create meaningful experiences and gain foresight in the transforming world of design. It challenges the role and responsibilities of designers and organizations today while outlining the importance of creating value.
   
   I highly recommend this book.



3. I am always fascinated by the power of imagination.
   
   With imagination, my mind becomes my playground. Coupling with fantasy, it becomes my amusement park.
   
   Naturally, I love to read books about enhancing imagination. Several old classic books come quickly to mind:
   
   - 'Applied Imagination', by Alex Osborn, the advertising guy who coined "brainstorming";
   
   - 'Imagineering: How to Profit from Your Creative Powers', by Michael Lebouef - I love his premise: "You let your imagination to soar & then you engineer it down to earth.");
   
   During my corporate days, I had even read 'Corporate Imagination Plus' by James Bandrowski, who asserted the importance of imagination in strategic planning.
   
   A few months ago, I have read 'Turn Your Imagination into Money', which is actually a reprint of an old classic.
   
   I reckon the most memorable personal experience in appreciating the power of imagination is my first visit to the Disneyland World Resort in Anaheim, California, during the eighties, to experience the imagineering masterpieces of the legendary Walt Disney.
   
   The joyful encounter was followed by further visits to The Tokyo Disneyland in Japan & the Walt Disney World Resort (+ the EPCOT Centre) in Orlando, Florida. In fact, I had revisited the latter after a gap of ten years in 2000.
   
   Following a stumble-upon on the net, I am now reading:
   
   'The Imagination Challenge: Strategic Foresight & Innovation in the Global Economy',
   
   by Alexander Manu, a strategic innovation practitioner.
   
   After perusing only the first few chapters, & particularly Chapter 11, plus some casual browsing of the rest of the book, I must say this book definitely ranks in a totally different league, when compared to all the stuff I have already read earlier.
   
   It's almost a scholarly exposition, although I detect that there is a very playful streak in the writing, which is clear & succinct.
   
   The first thing I got out of the book is the lucid distinction between 'imagination' & 'creativity' since most of us, including myself, tend to lump them together.
   
   Also, I get a better understanding of the apparently subtle difference between 'strategic innovation' & 'tactical innovation'.
   
   From the way I read it, the book is specifically written from a human user-centred design perspective. This has to do with the author's original design background.
   
   Also, much of the material in the book is drawn from the author's professional experiences, while serving as Research Director in the Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity. [Currently, I understand he is the Chief Imaginator with InnoSpa Consulting of Finland.]
   
   I certainly appreciate the author's many key premises at the onset of the book's beginning chapters:
   
   - creative & innovative thinking creates (or recreates) value in a product or service, but it is the power of our imagination that provides the quantum leap in our thinking as well as experimentation to help build & enhance the ultimate user experiences with our products & services;
   
   - it's the ability to imagine without limits, & asking 'what if...?' questions incessantly that will allow us to create innovative products & services;
   
   - to trigger imagination, we need to become real kids again, as serious play (to kids, play is never a task, in fact to them, play = work) is a powerful means to unlocking our creative & innovative potential;
   
   - it's our imagination that give life & meaning to technology;
   
   - the best approach to designing wonderful customer experiences is through the eyes of a kid, be curious about the world, about everything, experiment, reason everything before drawing up conclusions, don't jump on forms but rather define what the forms must do & how they interact with users before deciding how they look;
   
   - in the words of the authors, strategic innovation requires an understanding of the underlying behaviours, desires & motivations of the ultimate design solution;
   
   - interestingly, more questions will come from the play instinct, as play is exploring, searching, seeing things in a new light, communicating, interacting, & more importantly, be-ing what we are from day one - born with creative impulses;
   
   - as organisations, we need to create an ecology of possibility or play space, so to speak, to allow our people to explore the possible & to come up with breakthrough solutions, & more importantly, to be play-wise & play-ready;
   
   - hands do not initiate play; the mind must do it first, so I reckon what keeps our mind agile is how we use & stimulate it;
   
   
   The book is packed with inspiring stories & illustrative anecdotes.
   
   What I like most is the author's complete set of 8 flexible steps that can serve as a framework for investigating viable opportunities, culminating into what the author has designated as 'The Strategic Imagination Circle':
   
   1) signal discovery;
   
   2) emerging signals mapping;
   
   3) imaginative questions;
   
   4) points of departure;
   
   5) future scenarios;
   
   6) experience opportunity definition;
   
   7) economic opportunity modeling;
   
   8) post-signal learning;
   
   At first glance, it seems complicated. It has taken me quite a while to understand & digest how it works.
   
   I can sense, to some extent, some of the stuff here, at least:
   
   - in terms of "just playing around leads to great discoveries", correlates to Michael Schrage's 'Serious Play: How the World's Best Companies Simulate to Innovate', although the latter has a primary focus on prototyping;
   
   - in terms of "reading signals", correlates to the work of George Day & Paul Schoemaker, who wrote 'Peripheral Vision: Detecting the Weak Signals that Would Make or Break Your Company', with the principal premise: how good are you in sensing, interpreting & acting on the signals? [Please read my review on Amazon.]
   
   The only adverse comment I am going to make here is that the suggested tools to be used at each stage of the 'Strategic Imagination Circle' seemingly lack sufficient elaboration or amplification on the part of the author.
   
   Although I am still reading the book, I dare to say that it is definitely worthwhile to pursue. It's not just about the power of imagination & the wonder of play.
   
   It's about insight restructuring & opportunity finding.

4 comments about Macromedia Captivate: The Definitive Guide (Wordware Applications Library).

1. I had been looking for a book on Captivate for some time, so I was happy to see this one come out. Having used Captivate for a few months now, I had gotten beyond the basic 'how-to' and was looking for some of the more advanced tips & tricks.
   
   As I read through the book, I was amazed at all of the little things I picked up, even in chapters were I thought I knew how to do what the author was describing.
   
   The book is well-written and well-designed. It contains a lot of very good information that will help any Captivate user, beginning or advanced, to turn out a better product.
   
   I would recommend the book to anyone who uses or is thinking about using Captivate.



2. The book was delivered on time and in excellent quality.
   
   It will be very helpful if Amazon explored the possibility of delivering books to India. I requested for this order to be delivered to my daughter in Portland, Oregon and she further mailed the same to me as a post-parcel.
   
   Thanks,
   Hema



3. The book is well organized and written clearly, however, I was hoping to find a little more in-depth information for a more advanced user.
   This book will really help you if you are a Beginning or early Intermediate user of Captivate.



4. This book is rated for Introductory to Advanced users. I would rate it as something akin to "Captivate for the Mentally challenged" and a complete waste of time if you have used captivate for more than 30 minutes.
   
   Don't waste your money on this book. Play with the application a bit and this book quickly becomes irrelevant paper pulp. I look for a bit more than information on resizing windows and slide elements in a definitive guide.
   
   Sorry, Brenda.

3 comments about From After Effects to Flash: Poetry in Motion Graphics.

1. By now, everyone knows the great enhancements to working with video that Flash 8 brought with it. As someone who works closely with a motion animator in After Effects, I figured it'd be a great idea to check this book out and see what others are doing with it. I have to admit, I was sorely disappointed with what this book had to offer. To its credit, the book never did state that it was going to show me any groundbreaking After Effects stuff and how to leverage it in Flash to create a crazy, dynamic, animation driven website. However, when I think of the stuff that has been done with AE and Flash over the past year or two, I don't really consider the awesomeness of the text animation and lens flares (Chapter 5) and exploding Flash text (Chapter 7).
   
   There is much more to working with After Effects and Flash than things like this which were possible to do 5 years ago. I look at sites created by companies such as Big Spaceship and North Kingdom and always wonder, how did they do that. I know that they used video/After Effects for some of this stuff but I'm not quite sure how to wrap my head around the process of doing it since I'm not extremely familiar with AE and how to compress everything properly to bring into Flash for ease of use.
   
   I'd like to see even something as simple as a particle system effect from AE used in a Flash button, which hundreds of sites are doing these days, or a particle system on a preloader (which always puzzles me since you have to keep the size of the preloader really small so that you don't have to make a preloader for a preloader), but instead we get fed with some drivel about preset text effects in AE (Chapter 3) and masking videos (Chapter 9). That now makes a total of 3 chapters that are talking about text. I'm not sure about you, but I don't spend a plethora of hours on each project trying to figure out how I want the text to animate in on an intro animation (one reason being that I very rarely ever create intro animations unless a client just flat out insists on having one, but still...).
   
   This title would have been better served being labeled a Foundation title which friends of ED usually dishes out to introductory level books. It doesn't have the pizzazz that I was hoping from a title this misleading and I would not recommend this book unless you are absolutely just starting out using video in Flash 8 and After Effects (although, if you're a Flash guy, I'd suggest their other video title, Foundation Flash 8 Video, which could be the reason why this book didn't get the Foundation stamp in the first place).



2. From After Effects to Flash Poetry in Motion Graphics
   By Tom Green and Tiago Dias
   Publisher: Friends of Ed
   Copyright 2006
   ISBN:-130pkb:978-1-59059-748-4
   
   Sometimes video can be seen as a very difficult area of Flash. This book gives you the courage to go forward. The author's refer to video as uncharted or "Dragon Country" They cite an artic map of the 1500's that has wording on it stating "Here be dragons"
   
   The book tells you how Flash and After Effects play well together and how to avoid dragons. After Effects functionality really beefs up what can be accomplished with Flash.
   
   Tom Green describes the creative process as learning the fundamentals and then "driving a truck through it" He talks about how the lines are blurred between what is a video and what is an animation.
   
   The authors teach through causing you to ask, "How did they do that?" They give you a completed project and you reverse engineer it and answer for yourself how it was done.
   
   This book helps you decide when to encode the FLV in After Effects and when it is better to use the Flash FLV encoder.
   
   Of course the fundamental maxim of DV is "data rate controls quality." Other maxims are "Bandwidth controls the user experience" and "always keep an eye on the pipe." The Flash developer must have a solid bandwidth strategy in place for the user, the sever and the video.
   
   Tom Green shows you how simple it is to make a custom video player with pause/play rewind, scrubber and on/off buttons. The simple steps are: CONNECT, STREAM, and PLAY.
   
   The book shows you how to create a rich media ad with Illustrator content. Then it moves the file to After Effects for the Raining Characters, Drop Bounce and Boomerang, Wiggle and Chaotic preset effects. Then it brings the files into Flash and makes them FLV's. Then they show you how to use a glow effect to turn on a light bulb.
   
   Destructive cue points that are hard wired into Flash (not removable) and non-destructive cue points (removeable) which are done with code are discussed. Discussion of playing multiple videos in a Flash movie by using multiple net streams is mentioned.
   
   Practical tips are given such as: how to trim down the dimensions of an After Effects file and bring it into Flash to avoid slowing down the video.
   
   Sine wave animation is done in After Effects without complex coding. Using a ramp filter to make gradients, blinking and melting text, and a strobe light effect is described. Use of plugins for After Effects by Cycore demonstrate how to shatter everything and blow it up. 3d - the Holy Grail of Flash and how to get a creative jolt with After Effects is previewed.
   
   This book is helpful whether you are thinking of learning After Effects or would just like to know how to work with an After Effect expert when doing Flash movies.



3. Another great book for the beginner. Not so great for the experienced. Those familiar with Flash and just getting started with After Effects will enjoy this tour of possibilty. You CAN use these two powerful tools together to get more done in a better way for the medium you choose. The message of the book is clearly: 'Use the Right Tool for the Job'. There's a lot you can do with Flash that's just easier with After Effects and vice versa. Why make life difficult for yourself? Buy this book. Lighten your load. (Or borrow it from a library. Or just read it at the store.)
   
   When is it best to use After Effects or Flash? And why? Don't expect this book to answer those questions for you. Oftentimes, choosing the right tool depends on your situation. And the examples given in the book focus mostly on neat, yet basic, effects exported from After Effects and delivered through Flash. All good starting points for the motion graphic artist, but not necessarily finished to a fine... erm, point. (As media converges, so do my metaphors.)
   
   The authors walk us through the basic steps of working in After Effects. But, an After Effects book this is not. It simply points the way. And the way is convergence. (See?) After reading this book I feel the need to read a lot more books. Or get an AE expert and Flash guru in the same room and interrogate them aggressively.
   
   Many techniques are touched upon, but not much is dissected in a truly deep manner. There are three chapters on text effects, much about particle effects, masks are explained as are track mattes. Even a little about 3D, and some Illustrator tips, too. Also, a chapter on audio for good measure. When you bite off that much, you really have to chew for a long time.
   
   All that being said, it is a well-written and useful book for those of us just starting out with this stuff. And the can-do, fun tone of the authors is always appreciated.

2 comments about Visual Studio Team System: Better Software Development for Agile Teams.

1. From the first chapter, you want to be with the book in a hand and VSTS in the another making all of the taught examples.



2. This book covers a wide range of cool things in VSTS wrapped up in a solid introduction to and roadmap through agile practices. Read the book and you'll get great guidance to working with agile planning, test driven development, refactoring, agile modeling, and a number of other topics.
   
   I have two small gripes with the book. First is that it includes the seemingly mandatory, maddening "meet the development team and walk through each day in the project with them" storyline. This book does no better than any of the other weak attempts at the novelization of a working team. Leave that stuff off for novellas and focus on the technical aspects instead. My second gripe is the book's organization. Planning is way back in section 8, modelling's in 6, etc. It seems a bit disjointed.
   
   Those gripes aside, the content in the book is just great. The walk-through of test driven development is solid, and the emphasis on having an environment and code base that can rapidly change to requirements is very nice.
   
   The technical side relating to Team Systems is also solid. The guidance on using source control is well-written, and the section on working with team build is as good as it can be (I'm NOT a fan of team build). The section on using and working with the process frameworks are solid, although I wished they'd covered the process editor add on.
   
   I'm also very happy to see that the Framework for Integrated Testing (FIT) was included -- I've been a long-time proponent of FIT and love seeing it in more books.
   
   Overall this is a very solid book. I like their approach to discussing agile, and I like their tie-ins to VSTS/TFS. They gloss over some of the things I don't like about VSTS/TFS, but hey, those are more my issues, not theirs.
   
   This book is a good addition to your bookshelf if you're looking to do agile in the VSTS/TFS world.

1 comments about Beginner's Guide to SolidWorks 2005.

1. If you want to enter the world of solid works this is the book you must have. Easy to follow with step-by-step instruction and illustrations.
   I took the training and after I finish I could start making my own drawings. Also this is a good quick reference for the experienced designers.

3 comments about Quake 4 Mods For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)).

1. The title is Quake 4 Mods for Dummies. The tag line is "Ever wonder what Quake 4 would be like if it included that especially cool weapon you dreamed up? Here's the fun and easy way® to find out." But here's the deal: it will show you how to INCLUDE that fancy new weapon, but not how to make it. Nor will it tell you how to change the gameplay mechanics of the game.
   What you get instead is 200+ pages of how to make maps. At the end of that is a small section on how to make a GUI, reskin models, and package them for putting into the game.
   I'm giving it 3 stars because it seems like a pretty nice map tutorial, but this is NOT a book on how to make mods. If you wanted to learn how to make that machine-gun-shotgun, you're out of luck here. If you wanted to find out how to make new power-ups, you're out of luck here.
   Summary, the book would be better named Quake 4 Mapping for Dummies.



2. While this book does primarily cover mapping for Quake 4 (which is a form of modding), it also covers other aspects of modding (although in lesser detail). However, if you want to make a new level for the game, this book rocks. It comes with complete examples on making maps from start to finish. It shows you how to make custom textures for your maps and characters. Then it shows you how to package and release your map to the world.
   
   [...]
   
   Definitely worth the price. You'll be making your own maps for your friends or clan by the end of the weekend.



3. Sadly this thing only really covers Map making,with the title it has I would cry foul and demand your money back,unless you are focusing on maping.

No comments about Foundation Silverlight 2 Animation (Foundation).